


Not Only In My Dreams

by romulusgloriosus



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27855550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romulusgloriosus/pseuds/romulusgloriosus
Summary: You take Dirk to meet Jake in person for the first time. You're not too proud to cry a little.
Relationships: Jake English/Dirk Strider
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Not Only In My Dreams

The sun is high in the bright blue sky as a tropical breeze flows through the trees of the ancient island in the Pacific that Jake English has always called home. A mighty crabdad rumbles as it reaches for one of the many pumpkins that grow wild throughout the jungle. This land is a strange one, and equal parts earthly and alien.

You arrive out of nowhere, with the left of your little stick figure hands holding tightly to the young Dirk Strider, and the right holding on to the adult Dave Strider whom you poached from post-canon. You suppose that all of *this* sort of counts as post-canon anyway - ok well technically this little snippet is just a fan fiction, but technically fan fiction set after the end of homestuck (which you have read in its entirety and then some) is also still post-canon?

Your head hurts. You elect to stop thinking about canon immediately.

"Huh," Dave says aloud, not even remotely aware of the quotation marks around his statement, "so this is what Jade's island looked like? I gotta admit I always wondered."

"Not quite," you reply, completely and totally aware of the quotation marks around the words that some fanfic author has put in your mouth, "Jade's island is way less crazy than this. There aren't nearly as many trees, or wild pumpkins, or-"

The crabdad marches past you, pumpkin firmly in its claws.

"-the lusii."

Dave had seen lusii on Earth C during his time living in the Troll Kingdom with Karkat, but never of the size of this Crabdad. "Damn," he says to himself. "So Jake lived - lives - on this island? With all these wild monsters? No wonder he turned out the way he did. I mean, we all have trauma, but this-"

Dave turns to look at Dirk, who has been uncharacteristically quiet. He stares off into the distance, eyes hidden behind his triangle shades. "Sorry bro," says Dave, "I know you like Jake. I mean, I like him too, but I gotta admit that the guy is-"

"It's cool," Dirk replies.

"Ah, yeah, so...are you sure I should even be here? You don't need a chaperone for your first date, man," Dave says, talking with his hands as well as his mouth, "it's cool, you know. I trust you not to do anything I wouldn't do."

A few seconds pass and Dirk seems absolutely frozen. Is he embarrassed? Upset? You can only guess, the way he stoically bottles up his emotions.

"I don't," Dirk finally says. 

"Don't what?" Dave replies.

"I don't trust me not to do what you wouldn't do. So I need you here. Is that cool, Dave?"

Dirk looks at Dave, black shades to black shades.

"Yeah," Dave replies, and gives him a smile and thumbs up to seal the message. "That's cool."

Dirk nods. 

"Shall we go, then?" You ask timidly, not wanting to butt in on any patented "Strider Moment™." Dirk and Dave both nod at you in response, and the three of you begin trekking your way through the jungle. Even though you are the only one who actually knows where you're going, Dirk keeps pace with you as if he knows this island like the back of his hand. Every step he takes alongside you gives you the feeling like he's seen each moment a thousand times in dreams and fantasies.

It's heartwarming. So heartwarming you feel butterflies start to form in your stomach. They say that "there's no bottom to dirk" and there's no way of telling how he in his endlessness must feel, but you can just sort of imagine the mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness that come with meeting someone whom you've longed for from a distance for the first time.

You're probably going to cry. You accept that crying is definitely a thing that might end up happening today.

When you arrive at the entrance to the big broken off sphere that Jake English calls home, you turn and look at Dirk. "Are you ready?" You ask him, big one lined smile on your round aracial face. 

"He's asleep," Dirk replies firmly. "He forgot we were coming and he's still asleep." You blink. 

"Huh?"

Dirk actually smiles. "Don't worry about it."

Dave has his hands in his pockets and he seems determined to not look at his young ectobrother/father, his gaze fixed instead at the tall tower rising above Jake's home. Is he nostalgic for Jade, and all of their adventures on the Land of Frost and Frogs? You hadn't even considered how this place, and the many crabdads roaming it, might make Dave feel. He's still smiling to himself, though, so you don't pay it much mind.

Dirk walks up to the steel door of the sphere, takes a deep breath, and knocks on it firmly with his bare fist. "Hey English," Dirk says. "I'm here."

No response. Dirk smiles a bit more.

"Yo! English! I'm here!"

Still no response.

"I can teleport us inside, if you want?" You offer helpfully, your voice sheepish. Dirk shakes his head.

"Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt English," Dirk addresses Jake with his full name you didn't even know existed until this moment and shouldn't be taken as canon (sorry, you *had* elected not to think about that,) "if you don't open this door right now, I'm coming in."

You actually really hope that Jake is awake and opens the door. The threatening tone in Dirk's voice seems kinda scary? If this is him meeting his boyfriend for the first time, maybe he should be more respectful of his boundaries and personal space! Not that you can really talk about either, given that you have a habit of respecting neither of those.

Do as I say, not as I do!

In a flash, Dirk draws his japanese sword out of hammerspace and slashes the steel door in half with an imperceptible strike. Dave doesn't seem surprised at all. Your mouth becomes a literal o.

Like this - :O

The screeching sound of steel being torn apart seems to have woken Jake from his slumber, as he rushes down from his loft with guns in hand, shirtless and wearing only his tighty whities.

"I'm warning you, whoever you are! I'm always down for any kind of strifing! You don't even want to picture what Jake English can -" Jake stops in the middle of his threat as his eyes fix on Dirk's smirking face, sword in hand.

"Dirk?"

"Hey."

The two stare at each other for a few seconds as the brightly colored native island birds twitter atop their perches.

Jake ends the moment by running over and hugging Dirk tightly, lifting him a little off of the ground in his tight embrace. "Jiminy christmas, Dirk!!! You scared the ever-living bejeezus out of me with that little stunt, ripping up my door like a feather pillow! And waking me up while I was so gently snoozing in the old doss!"

He laughs heartily, and Dirk doesn't struggle a bit to remove himself from Jake's arms. "But I guess that's my fault," Jake says while letting Dirk go, "for forgetting you'd be making your appearance today with our Friend."

He waves to you with a big dorky smile. You wave back. You love that kid so much. Jake English has so many layers and you're not sure you *like* all of them, but, well...he's just so gosh darn cute!

Dirk is quiet. Jake doesn't seem to mind, as he - still totally unclothed except for his underwear - turns to Dave and gives a half bow.

"*The* Mr. Strider, it's an honor to meet you too! I'm such a fan of your work - Sbahj, Sbahj 2, Sbahj Goes Hawaiian - I just can't even begin to express how much admiration and - let's be frank - confusion I have for each installment!" 

Dave waves his hand at him. "Wrong Dave, but thanks, Jake. I'm sure I'd be happy to hear it."

Dave looks to Dirk, who still hasn't said anything, ponders for a moment, and then says, "yo, Jake, maybe you should put some pants on though."

Jake looks down at his underwear, back at Dave, over to Dirk, and then to you, and somehow smiles even wider. "Hear hear!" He says enthusiastically. "I'll get the old reach-me-downs on in a jiffy! Come on in everyone!"

"Actually," you say, "I think Dave and I want to go take a look at the tower. Maybe you two can just hang out without us?" You look over at Dave with a smile. He nods.

"Uh-" begins Dirk, before Jake bowls over his words with, "sounds top form! I'm sure old DiStri and I can entertain ourselves while you two explore the homestead! See you fine fellas later!"

Dirk looks at you - desperately? - but this is for his own good. You zap yourself and Dave away.

Jake has rushed back inside the sphere, leaving Dirk staring in horror at the spot where you and Dave once stood. He takes a deep breath and follows his friend into his home, climbing stairs he's imagined so many times and seeing the room he's seen over Trollian and in Jake's photos his whole life.

Damn those butterflies in his stomach. 

Jake has put on a pair of baggy brown shorts and slipped a white t-shirt over his athletic body. He turns around to gaze at Dirk fondly. "Golly Dirk," he says, "it's never been hard for me to believe in anything, but it's so incredibly hard for me to believe that you're really, really here."

Dirk's face goes bright red, so he pretends to cough into the crook of his arm in order to cover it. "Same," he says between coughs, "yeah, same. Same, English. It's...I mean it's so good to see you. Really, really good to see you. Here. Together."

Jake laughs. "I wonder what the ladies would think of the two of us here gabbing away in facetime! Have they even had the good fortune of meeting face to face yet, or will that be reserved for a later date? I know I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the intrepid Miss Crocker or Lalonde yet myself!"

Dirk shrugs. "I don't think Jane and Roxy have met yet. I'm surprised that out of the three of us, I was the one you wanted to meet first."

Jake walks over and playfully punches Dirk's arm - he's so strong that it actually kind of hurts, but maybe in a good way? Dirk tries to bury that thought. "Are you kidding me, Strider? There's no one in the world I'd want to see more than my Best Bro From The Future. You've taught me about everything from Life to Combat to Philosophy!"

"I'm glad to hear you say that, English."

The two of them stare into one another's eyes. Jake's eyes are as green as the deep forest he dwells in, Dirk thinks, just as equally warm and inviting as it is mysterious. Dirk's shades are black and impossible to see beyond, but the style and unquestioned Striderness of it all feels so nostalgic to him that it still brings him joy.

"So what do you want to do?" Jake asks while bouncing on the heels of his feet. "I mostly watch movies, as you know, and I've got so many to choose from! Oh, or we could play some video games if you want? Oh wait, I don't really have any two player games, for obvious reasons. Oh! Oh! We could take pictures of us in cool poses and send them to Jane and Roxy! Oh ho ho I bet they'll be so jealous to see us two fine gentlemen having such a blast while they're stuck at home!"

Dirk shrugs. "Whatever you wanna do, man. This is your place. I am your guest." 

Jake pauses for a moment, totally unsure of himself. "Oh! Oh! Oh! I have it! We should watch 2 sbahj 2 furry-ous! You can point out in person all the layers and inside bits that have always gone right over my noggin!"

Dirk laughs. "Sounds good."

Jake rushes over to his messy box of loose dvds and rustles them around looking for the "movie" in question. As he does so, Dirk looks around the room staring at the many movie posters. Dirk has made a point to see all of them in order to better "understand" Jake English, but they have, if anything, made it even harder to really grasp what goes on in his head. 

"Got it!" Jake says, and puts the scratched up dvd inside of his Playstation® 3, which is a relevant video game console in 2011, and which Dirk didn't even know Jake owned, and flops down on his bed to watch the film. He pats the spot next to him for Dirk to sit down.

Dirk does. The fact that he's actually sitting on Jake English's bed causes him to involuntarily cross his legs. He takes another deep breath.

"You all right there, Dirk, old buddy, old pal?" Jake asks while adjusting his glasses with a grin. He really has no right to be this attractive, Dirk thinks to himself. He really has no right to have such a dorky grin and kind, beautiful, incredible eyes, and yet be so utterly oblivious to how much Dirk so desperately wants to lean over and kiss him.

Dirk has no idea how Jake would react to that, less than a half hour into meeting for the first time.

"Yeah," Dirk says. "I'll be honest with you, Jake, I'm just still feeling a little overwhelmed being with you here in person like this. We've known each other forever."

"Forever AND ever!" Jake adds unhelpfully.

"Yeah, and I never thought I'd actually be here. With you. In your room. In real life, here, on your island. I mean, I'm from four hundred years in the future, Jake. You might as well be a historical figure to me. And yet here we are, together."

Dirk's head lowers a little to look down at the floor. As he navel gazes, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson on the television are "driving" unmoving .jpg cars across a poorly rotoscoped background while dressed in red and blue fursuits.

"I never thought of it that way, but it sure is something!" Jake says, patting Dirk on the back with his strong hand. "To me it's just unbelievable to have my good friend here when I've been all by my lonesome for a dog's age. Our Friend sure is a remarkable pal, aren't they? Making this all happen."

Dirk continues to stare at the floor. He hasn't forgotten the encounter atop his roof with his "ultimate" self, who nearly pulled him away from his life, and Dave, and Jake, and anyone he ever cared for, and into the realm of intrusive thoughts that have been with Dirk since infancy. If it weren't for you, he thinks, he wouldn't be here right now, in more ways than one. He wonders if he will ever be able to repay you for that. For this moment.

"Yeah," Dirk says, "they really are."

The two of them watch the absolutely absurd movie, which never seems to end. Dirk happily points out how Sweet Bro's monologue before the gathered furries at Furcon '09 is meant to be a reference to "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams, but that the ominous furry dressed in the toga who passes behind him is just meant to be "a distaction" and isn't a reference to anything - unless you want it to be.

While Dirk is in the middle of explaining the importance of the rhyming scheme in Hella Jeff's impassioned rap, he looks over and sees that Jake has fallen asleep again. At first he can't help but feel a little annoyed at him and just the tiniest bit self-conscious, but he can't stay mad at that angelic face. He pats Jake on the leg.

"English," Dirk says.

Jake stirs a little. His glasses hang loosely off of his face.

"Hey English, you fell asleep again," Dirk says more firmly.

Jake bolts awake, putting his glasses right. "Oh, gosh, oh, gee, golly, I'm sorry Dirk! I don't know what's wrong with me! I just can't seem to stay awake today." Dirk shrugs again.

"I can go take a walk if you want to nap. See the island, maybe trek over to the tower and see if I can find our friend and Dave…." Dirk says, trailing off, before Jake interrupts him.

"No, Dirk, it's ok, I...I can stay awake, I...actually...would you mind, maybe…" Jake yawns loudly. "Staying with me? While I nap? It'll be quick. It'll just be nice to have you here for real in reality, instead of always only in my dreams."

Dirk blushes again. Jake's words take him so off guard that he completely forgets to play it cool. "...yeah," Dirk says. "I'm right here."

You zap in a few hours later, having dropped Dave off at his Pizza Hut® job, to find Dirk and Jake cuddled up on Jake's bed, both snoozing softly. Their glasses are lying between them, one over the other. The title page for 2 Sbahj 2 Furry-ous plays on loop on the television.

Yeah, you're crying a little bit. You're not too proud to admit it. And you decide that maybe it'd be best if you came back later. For now, you'll just let these boys sleep.


End file.
